Euphorbia for skin cancer

The sap of the common weed – garden spurge (Euphorbia peplus) has proved to be effective in the fight against skin cancer, reports the British Journal of Dermatology.

The garden spurge grows in North Africa, Asia and Europe – also in Poland. It is one of the most common and poisonous euphoria – white juice that irritates the skin leaks from a damaged stem.

British scientists wanting to test the spurge juice, which has been used clinically for a long time in traditional folk medicine, conducted experimental treatment of skin tumors (apart from the most dangerous of them – melanoma) in 36 patients. It is basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), which usually occur in older people. These tumors can, in most cases, be treated surgically, either by freezing, or by applying a special type of light that destroys the cancer cells. However, for some people the usual treatment doesn’t work.

In 36 patients, spurge juice was applied to the lesions once a day for three days. After one month, 41 out of 48 tumors had virtually disappeared – no sign of cancer was found in the clinical trial. Patients who did not clear up were offered the re-use of spurge juice.

People who were helped by one or two treatments were then followed for two to 31 months. After an average of 15 months, there was still no recurrence in 30 out of 48 lesions (68,5%).

According to the authors, there is a need for large-scale research on the active ingredient of spurge moth juice (ingenol mebutate), which could be used in the treatment of skin cancer. Ingenol not only destroys cancer cells but also stimulates the activity of white blood cells, neutrophils, which appear to reduce the risk of recurrence by destroying any cancer cells that have survived.

Specialists warn not to try to treat it on its own – it is too poisonous and irritates the skin, especially the mucous membranes. If it gets in the eyes, it can cause severe inflammation. (PAP)

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